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Facebook has announced it will be cutting the streaming quality on its sites, including Instagram, as part of a campaign to try and reduce the strain networks caused by the coronavirus outbreak..
The social media giant is aiming to help ameliorate the stress being put on internet conections as more people work from home due to the virus shutting down offices worldwide..
The main Facebook site will be affected by the restriction, as will Instagram, with the new regulations being rolled out across Europe this week.
Facebook streaming cut
“We are committed to working with our partners to manage any bandwidth constraints during this period of heavy demand, while also ensuring people are able to remain connected using Facebook apps and services,” said a Facebook spokesman.
Several other major streaming services have also limited services to try and minimise the strain on networks, with Netflix and YouTube taking such measures last week after a request by the European Union.
Brussels asked streaming services to limit content to standard definition – as opposed to high definition or 4K – and users to consider reducing data consumption.
Disney, Apple, and Amazon have also confirmed they will lower streaming quality. Domestic broadband is well equipped to handle evening traffic surges, but social distancing and quarantine policies introduced by governments across the globe are further aggravating these periods of high traffic.
Phone networks across the world have also seen traffic reach new highs across the past few weeks, with all the major UK operators seeing services strained.


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Heroes die, legends live forever: RIP Steve Jobs
With Steve Jobs' passing, the tech world has lost its Julius Caesar.
They say that till your deathbed, you will remember the exact moment you learned of a significant global event. I remember all of mine, so far.
I recall, as a child, I was listening to the radio with my parents in Saudi Arabia, when Sadam Hussein invaded Kuwait. I recollect celebrating in my cousin’s home in Riyadh, when Imran Khan lifted the cricket world cup. During the fateful hour on September 11th, I was listening to the Howard Stern radio show, who was broadcasting live from New York near the twin towers. And just a few hours ago, on a slow work day, I was browsing The Express Tribune page on Facebook, when under an unrelated news item, I learned of the Apple CEO’s passing, through a comment by a fellow reader, that said, “Steve Jobs died RIP."
Like everyone else, I had long known about Steve’s battle with cancer, but I had been unaware of how little time he had. When I turned to the popular news haunts for more information, I realized that it indeed was true, and that the man behind Apple had truly passed, leaving the dedication flood gates open in his wake; US president Barack Obama called the man a visionary; Softbank Corp CEO, Masayoshi Son compared Steve Jobs to Leonardo da Vinci; Michael Dell CEO of Dell Inc said the man was an iconic legend.
However, what really caught me off guard were the reactions from the Pakistani web community. We are all normally a very cynical bunch, but the heartfelt sentiments from desis have been pouring through all over Twitter and Facebook. What is it about this man and his company, which carries such a die-hard following, even in an economically hard struck nation like Pakistan? I have noticed that while most franchises in Pakistan struggle to survive, the official Apple stores in Karachi continue to bustle with all sorts of activity.
In the ‘mobile market’ in Saddar, affluent shoppers ignore the Android powered devices, in favor of the more expensive iPhones. Those who can’t afford them, invest in cheaper Chinese knock offs, instead of safer, more legitimate alternatives. And as a techie, I often get asked by my Pakistani mates what MacBook they should buy, so they can live on daal chawal for six months, saving up for one.
It isn’t just Pakistan, but a large portion of the entire world that mourns this man and his company’s creations. When new Apple products are set to launch countless put their lives on hold by forming queues for weeks outside of outlets. Fans (or fanatics) have been known to get tattoos and haircuts sporting their love for the giant tech corporation from California.
Steve Jobs was a man who made black turtlenecks fashionable for those outside of the French painter, and international spy industry. And when he announced new products at keynotes, members in the audience jumped with joy, exchanging high-fives, leaving clueless viewers like myself fearing for the future of humanity.
Some of my friends might find it ironic that I am writing about the legacy of Steve Jobs. You see, I dislike Apple. While I have gifted iPods to my siblings, I never have, nor do I ever plan to, purchase an Apple product. And although I would never throw one out of bed, I find them overpriced, fragile cosmetically, and as compared to the competition, significantly underpowered.
Despite having said that, I can’t deny Steve Jobs’ contribution to the tech community, his genius as a salesman, nor his business savvy. As a shrewd operator, he decided that Macs didn’t need to compete with PCs in terms of power, price, or utility. Instead, he rewrote the rules, and contested on his own terms, targeting the more fashion conscious crowd with the brilliant Mac vs. PC advertising. Eventually, defying all logic, his computers were outselling cheaper and more powerful PC alternatives.
But, it didn’t stop there. Under his reign, Apple, using a very simple idea, shaped one of the greatest selling products ever made. Essentially, they took the portable hard drive, gave it mobility, armed it with a gorgeous looking interface, attached some headphones, and sold it as an iPod. Many product revisions later, they made an XL version, called it the iPad, and laughed all the way to the bank, thus embarrassing other companies who had previously tried to enter the tablet market.
Admittedly, it wasn’t all marketing. For all their limitations, Apple products are lightning fast, have the best interfaces, and easily the most attractive looks. Not only this, but they are undeniably innovative. My Samsung Galaxy S, which I adore, while essentially a superior, more open ended version of the competing iPhone, is a smartphone which would not have existed had Apple not paved the way.
In fact, all other present day tablets, portable music devices, touch screen gadgets, and interfaces on modern day Windows operating systems, have all in some way, to varying degrees, found birth due to Steve Jobs. I know it wasn’t all him, and that he was part of a hard working team, but smart people surround themselves with smarter ones, and, with his team, Steve Jobs made portable technology an infinitely larger part of our lives. In fact, so iconic was he for his company that Apple's stock price fluctuated with his health. Basically, Steve Jobs took Apple from its humble beginnings to a multibillion dollar enterprise.
In the end, I have to say that with influential businesses like Apple having more cash reserve than the U.S. treasury, I have no doubt that corporations are the new empires and superpowers of our era. And with Steve Jobs passing, I feel that the tech business world has lost its Julius Caesar.

domain: news


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Digital TV News: Kabel Deutschland
Over 50 million RDK device deployments
Jun 5, 2019 – At ANGA COM 2019, RDK Management shared details about the adoption of RDK open source software used to power customer-premises equipment from video and broadband services providers worldwide. The number of RDK devices deployed is now over 50 million.
News categories: RDK Management, Steve Heeb, ANGA COM, Digital TV, Gateway, Market Research, Middleware, Worldwide
More than 40 million devices now running RDK
Mar 20, 2018 – At the 2018 Connected TV World Summit, RDK Management provided its annual update about the adoption of the RDK software used to power customer-premises equipment (CPE) from video and broadband services providers worldwide.
News categories: RDK Management, Steve Heeb, Digital TV, Market Research, RDK, Worldwide
RDK now powers 25 million STBs and broadband gateways
May 17, 2017 – At the 2017 Connected TV World Summit, RDK Management provided an update on the adoption of RDK (Reference Design Kit) software. RDK now powers more than 25 million set-top boxes and broadband gateways globally.
News categories: RDK Management, Steve Heeb, Cable TV, Digital TV, IBC2019, Market Research, RDK, Worldwide
3SS updates UI for Kabel Deutschland Select Video VOD service
News categories: 3 Screen Solutions, Kabel Deutschland, Kai-Christian Borchers, Hagen Bossert, Cable TV, Digital TV, Germany, Set Top Box, UX
Vodafone TV service to launch in UK in Q1 2016
Nov 10, 2015 – Vodafone has announced results for the six months ended 30 September 2015. In Europe, the company had 9.2 million TV customers at the end of the period. Vodafone launched consumer broadband in the UK in October, with a TV service to follow.
News categories: Vodafone, Germany, IPTV, Results, Spain, Subscribers, UK
Telcos snapping at heels of established pay TV operators
Sep 17, 2015 – According to Futuresource Consulting, following a number of false starts in Western Europe, IPTV homes are now a viable platform, hitting 27 million in 2014, 15% of all TV households, with growth of 30% expected between now and 2019.
News categories: Futuresource, Cable TV, Digital TV, Europe, IPTV, Market Research, Satellite, Subscribers, USA
Pay TV providers embrace OTT video and 'skinny' bundles
May 21, 2015 – The global pay TV services market, including cable TV, satellite TV, telco TV and over-the-top (OTT) video, totaled $237 billion in 2014, up 7 percent from the previous year, according to the 2015 IHS Infonetics Pay TV Services and Subscribers report.
News categories: Infonetics, Jeff Heynen, Cable TV, Digital TV, IPTV, Market Research, OTT, Satellite, TV Everywhere, Worldwide
Kabel Deutschland selects Kaltura to power its TV App
Feb 9, 2015 – Kaltura has announced that Kabel Deutschland has selected Kaltura OTT TV to power its TV App. The first phase of the multi-screen TV service includes live TV for iOS devices.
News categories: Kaltura, Kabel Deutschland, Ron Yekutiel, Apps, Cable TV, Digital TV, Germany, TV Everywhere
Kabel Deutschland reports 4Q 2014 results
Feb 4, 2015 – Kabel Deutschland has released results for the quarter ended December 31, 2014. In Premium TV, Kabel Deutschland recorded 55 thousand RGU net additions in the third quarter of fiscal year 2014/15.
News categories: Kabel Deutschland, Cable TV, Germany, Results, Subscribers
- Netflix US streaming subscribers down 126k in 2Q 2019
- Pay-TV Innovation Forum releases sports OTT report
- One million downloads for Sinclair's STIRR app
- Cifra and Flussonic offer integrated IPTV/OTT solution
- Mirada to empower pay TV operators with Netflix integration
- DNA sells pay-DTT business to Digita
- Socionext releases 8K-capable live video encoding unit
- Speedcast, In Aria! and Telespazio announce joint service offering
- Operator 5G boosted by strong projections for 5G PCs and tablets
- Block Communications to use Comscore local TV ratings and Advanced Audiences
- 27% of US broadband households engage in some form of piracy or account sharing
- Nielsen's TV ratings platform moves to AWS
- NEC demonstrates live 8K video transmission over 5G in France
- U.S. consumer technology sales to exceed $400bn in 2019
- AirTV 4K streaming stick integrates Sling TV, Netflix and OTA channels
- Dalet to acquire Ooyala Flex Media Platform business
- TekSavvy TV launching across Ontario
- Cyfrowy Polsat launches OTT TV via new set-top-box
- Hotstar sets streaming world record with 25.3 million concurrent viewers
- Amino acquires 24i Media


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This Guest Post is from Nitin Aggarwal a young entrepreneur. His company Offshore Ally provides high quality virtual assistant services and has many VA for real estate services. Connect him through twitter.
Despite the fact that the iPad 2 was launched just a few months ago, countless rumors about the upcoming iPad 3 have already begun to circulate. The hottest rumor being that iPad 3 may hit the stores much sooner than expected: the Q4 2011. Here are some interesting rumors about the release date, display, and specifications that may turn out to be facts.


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The company, which was demerged from insurer Esure last year, said adjusted annual operating profi t would be up 30 per cent at £30 million, slightly higher than City forecasts.
Revenue was up 19 per cent to £142 million.
Chief executive Matthew Crummack said: “We continue to deliver good trading results.” Shares rose 8¼p to 76p.
Yabba, dabba Boohoo!
Online retailer Boohoo. com’s efforts to crack the US market have paid off as it hiked its annual sales forecast.
The firm , which has expanded its product range and recently launched clothing for children, said revenue in the last four months of 2016 jumped 52 per cent at constant exchange rates, with US sales up 188 per cent.
It has raised its guidance for sales growth in the year to February 28 to between 43-45 per cent from 38-42 per cent.
The outfit highlighted strong US trading across the Black Friday weekend.
£150k data theft fine
RSA Insurance has been fined £150,000 for losing the personal data of nearly 60,000 customers.
The Information Commissioner’s Office acted after the theft at RSA’s offices in West Sussex of a hard drive with customers’ names, addresses and bank details including account numbers and sort codes.
It was stolen by a member of staff or a contractor, was not encrypted and has not been recovered.
It also held credit card details of 20,000 customers. ICO said: “It simply didn’t take adequate precautions to protect customer information.”
Majestic’s gin tonic
Majestic Wine toasted its biggest ever Christmas after bumper sales of sparkling wines and gin.
It uncorked a 15.3 per cent rise in sales for the 10 weeks to January 2. The festive period accounts for about 30 per cent of its annual turnover, with a record 7.5 per cent growth in same-store sales.
Sparkling wine sales were up 12 per cent against a 3 per cent increase in champagne.
Gin sales grew by 55 per cent with Warner Edwards rhubarb gin and Sipsmith sloe gin standout performers. Shares rose 25½p to 349½p.


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Lurking around the corner like a wild beast made of purest games is Gamescom. This creature is vast, vaster than you can even imagine, and it’s coming soon – packed full of gaming goodness and announcements. Before Gamescom body slams us, let’s catch up on the last two weeks in gaming and the biggest news announcements you might’ve missed.
Quake Enhanced Edition Released
QuakeCon 2021 saw the venerable Quake hit 25. To celebrate, Bethesda announced a brand new version of Quake that adds a tonne of new features like widescreen support, mouselook without having to hold down a button, and loads of fixes and tweaks. Not only does this remastered version sport new graphics options, but the Trent Reznor soundtrack finally makes a reappearance and all expansion packs are included as well. If that wasn’t enough for you, there’s a new expansion included too by Wolfenstein: The New Order developers MachineGames. If that still wasn’t enough, if you already own the game on Steam you’ll get all this for free. Now that’s a 25th birthday celebration.
EA Opens up Five Patents for Other Developers
This week in ‘news that’s going to be good for everyone’, EA have opened their doors just a little and let some patents sneak out. As part of their Patent Pledge for Increasing Accessibility, EA will let developers use five of their patents and copy accessibility features they’ve invented into games, with no licence or fees required. These includes colourblindness solutions, better audio for those with hearing deficiencies, and even Apex Legends’ marvellous ping system. This is frankly a great move for anyone looking to add accessibility to their game and something that should be roundly applauded.
Skyrim Anniversary Edition Announced
Skyrim turns ten this year and to celebrate, Bethesda have announced a brand new Anniversary Edition of the game. Anyone with Skyrim Special Edition will get the upgrade on November the 11th, and it’ll include a tonne of content from the Content Creation Club which should expand the game in new and surprising ways. 48 Creations will be included along with 26 that have yet to be released. So if you ever wanted a mechanical Dwemer mudcrab, November will be your chance to grab one.
Fallout: London Mod Writer Gets Hired by Bethesda
It’s a Bethesda-heavy week this week with the news that one of the writers behind up-and-coming Fallout 4 total conversion Fallout: London has been hired by Bethesda. This total conversion relocates the action to London, is set in 2237, and features a surprising amount of care and attention to the series’ lore. For example, the FEV virus was never released in the UK so there’ll be no Super Mutants, and Vault-Tec is firmly an American company so you’ll not be seeing Vault Boy any time soon. The total conversion looks great and with its Head Writer being hired by Bethesda, according to an announcement from the developers of the mod, it gives everything that extra hint of promise that this might be something very special indeed.
Stardew Valley Esports? More Likely Than You Think
Esports continue to slowly take over the world with ever-larger prize pools and competitions, and the latest game to dive into the esports fray is of course…Stardew Valley. Developer ConcernedApe announced on Twitter that the first official Stardew Valley Cup will kick off on the 4th of September with a prize pool of over $40,000. Teams will compete to score the most points, showing off their skill and knowledge of the game as they fight to be the best farmers, miners, monster slayers, and anglers they can be.
James McAvoy Burned Oblivion Disc After Becoming Hooked
Finally this week we return to Bethesda for a brief moment and the heady days of Oblivion way back in 2007. X-Men, His Dark Materials, and Gnomeo & Juliet actor James McAvoy has spoken to Forbes about the time he got so hooked on Oblivion that it began to interfere with his work. Apparently the game took over his life somewhat, culminating in a lengthy session starting at 8pm at night, ending at 5:35am, just ten minutes before his car arrived to take him to work. Deciding enough was enough, the 12 Minutes actor put the disc into the oven and turned it on. “I just put the disc on it and just watched it sort of, like, singe and melt a little bit. And I was like, ‘Right, we’re done, we’re over, never again!’” So let that be a lesson to everyone; Oblivion has a strong siren song.
On that hot note we’re heading off into the sunset to prepare for the slew of gaming news from Gamescom. Until the next time, why not head on over to our Community Forum and get chatting – we’d love to hear from you.


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HAIKOU, February 20. /TASS/. China's Hainan has received over 4.5 million tourists during the week of the lunar New Year holidays. According to the Hainan Daily, the local hospitality industry's revenue exceeded 5.8 billion yuan (about $ 900 million) from February 11 to 17.
According to the latest data, from 11 to 16 February, the share of reservations in Sanya's hotels, the main resort city of the province, averaged 61%. At the same time, the occupancy rate of high-end hotels in Haitangwan Bay exceeded 72%, and in Yalongwan Bay - 74%. A large number of guests of the province, the newspaper noted, came here for outdoor activities: they were diving, surfing, hiking in tropical forests, as well as trips on boats and yachts. In addition to traditional resorts such as Sanya and Wanning, new destinations were also in demand among tourists. For example, the recently opened Baihualing Nature Reserve, located in the central mountainous part of the island, received about 80,000 visitors during the "golden week".
In order to avoid the risks of the spread of coronavirus on the eve of the Chinese New Year, the Chinese authorities urged the population to limit travel around the country as much as possible, putting forward the initiative "we stay put during the New Year's celebrations." At this time, residents of China usually return from big cities where they work or study to their small homeland to visit relatives and friends. The initiative of the authorities influenced the flow of tourists on Hainan, and this time travelers preferred tours to the nearest regions to long trips, the publication specified.
In 2019, before the pandemic, over 5.8 million people visited Hainan during the week of New Year's holidays.
The Chinese government plans to turn Hainan into an "international center for tourism and consumption" by 2025. The Chinese island is often referred to as "Eastern Hawaii": natural landscapes, tropical forests, a developed hotel chain combined with beaches and a coastline stretching along more than 1,900 kilometers attract guests from the most remote parts of the world.


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South-Eastern Europe: Economic Snapshot for South-Eastern Europe
October 2, 2018
Growth slows notably in the second quarter, Q3 likely to be weaker still
According to a comprehensive estimate by FocusEconomics, South-Eastern Europe’s (SEE) economy lost steam in the second quarter and grew 4.2%, down notably from Q1’s 5.4% expansion but above last month’s preliminary estimate of 4.0%. The slowdown was driven chiefly by a moderation in growth in regional powerhouse Turkey, which accounts for around half of the region’s GDP.
That said, Turkey’s economy still performed resiliently in the second quarter. Private consumption growth was brisk, while government consumption received a boost from pre-election spending. In addition, the external sector strengthened markedly thanks to the weaker lira and healthy foreign demand. Meanwhile, a comprehensive GDP estimate for Romania—the region’s second-largest economy—left Q2’s growth untouched from the preliminary release, as solid wage gains drove private consumption.
A slew of positive national accounts figures for the region’s smaller economies were released over the past month. Albania saw growth clock above 4% for the second consecutive quarter as a multi-year low unemployment rate bolstered domestic demand, while growth in Montenegro reached a one-year high on a surge in fixed investment and Macedonia enjoyed a rebound from a soft Q1 thanks to a surge in exports.
Looking at Q3, most economies in the region likely performed well, supported by solid domestic demand and stronger tourism arrivals. However, the rapidly cooling Turkish economy dragged sharply on regional growth. All available indicators, such as the manufacturing PMI, confidence indices, and retail and vehicle sales, corroborate this picture.
Following August’s huge lira depreciation, Turkish authorities published a New Economic Plan in September, which aims to tighten the fiscal stance. Together with tighter monetary policy, this has restored some calm to the FX market and seen the lira regain ground. However, the move won’t be able to avoid a sharp loss of momentum in Turkey’s economy over the next few quarters.
Elsewhere on the political scene, Bosnia and Herzegovina is gearing up for general elections on 7 October. Economic and social concerns—such as the country’s painfully high unemployment rate—have been at the forefront of the campaign. However, legal issues are casting doubts over the formation of a new government, following a ruling by the Constitutional Court last year which struck down parts of the electoral law.
In Macedonia, although a majority of voters recently approved the country’s proposed name change in a referendum, turnout was low, casting doubt on the popular mandate for the change. If the parliament now passes the required constitutional amendments, this would mark a major step towards EU and NATO membership, which could catalyze economic development.
Regional economy to hit the brakes going forward
The regional economy is seen expanding 3.4% this year, down 0.2 percentage points from last month’s projection, and 2.0% in 2019, down 1.0 percentage point from last month’s forecast. The downgrades are largely due to panelists drastically revising down their growth estimates for Turkey. In contrast, the region’s other economies should continue to perform well, supported by wage gains, a stronger absorption of EU funds, healthy tourist arrivals and robust external demand for goods. External risks stem largely from greater global trade protectionism and a possible sharp slowdown in the EU, the key market for South-Eastern European exports. A continuing deterioration of economic conditions in Turkey is the key internal risk; however, if the government follows through on its promise of fiscal consolidation, this should reduce economic imbalances and provide greater stability in the currency market going forward.
This month, panelists revised up their 2019 growth projections for Serbia, while downgrading their projections for Bosnia, Cyprus, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania and Turkey. Forecasts for the region’s remaining economies for this year were unchanged.
Kosovo is expected to record the fastest expansion next year, while Turkey is expected to be the region’s weakest performer with 1.0% growth, which would be the weakest result in 10 years.
TURKEY | Economy is in a tailspin, government presents New Economic Plan
Recent indicators suggest the economy slowed sharply in the third quarter. Consumer and business confidence continued to plummet in September and are now both firmly in negative territory, while in the same month the manufacturing PMI sank lower on stronger contractions in output and new orders. Moreover, annual retail sales growth reached an over one-year low in July. Retail sales likely softened further in the remainder of Q3, on higher inflation and weaker sentiment. On the plus side, the gaping current account deficit has begun to narrow thanks to the weaker currency and softer domestic demand. This comes after recent figures show that growth held up well in the second quarter, buoyed by a stronger external sector, a pre-election government spending boost and robust private consumption. On the political front, in late September Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak, presented the much-anticipated New Economic Plan, which sets out a more constrained fiscal stance and far lower growth forecasts.
The economy will likely lose considerable steam in the next few quarters on tight financial conditions, weak sentiment and sky-high inflation. Further exchange rate volatility and an escalation of geopolitical tensions pose significant downside risks. FocusEconomics panelists expect growth of 3.6% this year and 1.0% in 2019, down 2.0 percentage points from last month’s forecast.
ROMANIA | Comprehensive data shows private consumption drove Q2 growth
Detailed data shows that GDP growth inched up in the second quarter, sustained by a robust expansion in consumer spending and a less negative contribution from the external sector. That said, the increase in private consumption was the weakest since Q4 2016. Moreover its pace of expansion decelerated for the third consecutive quarter, while fixed investment contracted, highlighting serious difficulties in the absorption of EU funds. Meanwhile, available figures for the third quarter suggest the economy has shifted into a lower gear from the impressive growth rates recorded in 2017. The healthy but decelerating retail sales growth in July indicates consumer spending has likely continued to increase, supported by a tight labor market but eroded by stubbornly high inflation. In the same month, construction output plunged in annual terms, which bodes poorly for fixed investment. Moreover, data for January–August shows that the budget deficit ballooned from last year, making negotiations with the European Commission on deficit containment more difficult.
Growth will decelerate further next year, restrained by cooling consumer spending and government sluggishness in using EU funds. Unless measures to reduce fiscal and current account deficits are taken, they will add to economic and financial instability in case of capital outflows stemming from the Fed tightening cycle and financial turbulence in emerging markets. FocusEconomics panelists expect growth of 3.9% for 2018 and down 0.1 percentage points from last month’s forecast
BULGARIA | Economic growth remains firm in Q2
Comprehensive national accounts data confirmed another solid outturn for the economy in the second quarter, driven by firm domestically-led gains. Fixed investment grew robustly but eased in line with looser industrial capacity, while household spending jumped amid strong employment gains—and despite sharply higher inflation. Meanwhile, as was seen more broadly across Europe, exports of goods and services moderated as this year’s retreat from global trade ate into external demand. Analysts are banking on a strong second half of the year, although available data for the third quarter has been noticeably less upbeat in recent weeks. Despite the tight labor market and firm retail sales through July, unremarkable industrial output and companies’ newfound pessimism suggest some moderation domestically, while Turkey’s economic crisis is likely to further afflict the external sector.
Household spending will run up against slower employment gains and elevated inflation next year. Meanwhile, cheap borrowing and strong absorption of EU funding are expected to buttress fixed investment. Exports should be buoyant and, over the medium-term, sound fiscal policy should translate into greater FDI inflows. FocusEconomics panelists expect growth of 3.6% in 2018 and 3.4% in 2019, unchanged from last month’s forecast.
CROATIA | Economic signs for the third quarter are positive
Healthy economic activity seems to have held up in the third quarter, following a solid second-quarter expansion that was chiefly driven by external demand. The labor market continued to improve, reflected by the unemployment rate hitting all-time lows in July and again in August. Despite inflation firming up recently, robust gains in nominal wages have propped up real household incomes, likely contributing to the modest rise in annual retail sales growth in July. Although the number of tourist arrivals dropped slightly in year-on-year terms in the same month, they rose solidly on aggregate in January through July, pointing to another record year for tourist visits. Meanwhile, on 21 September, S&P Global Ratings revised Croatia’s credit rating outlook from stable to positive, owing to their expectations that the economy will continue to strengthen and its fiscal and debt metrics improve.
Solid growth is expected to continue next year, underpinned by healthy gains in private consumption and increased capital spending. A dynamic tourism industry should also contribute to maintain a healthy current account surplus. Meanwhile, risks associated to the disorderly restructuring of Agrokor, the country’s largest private employer, have dissipated after creditors reached a debt-settlement deal in July. Downside risks to the outlook stem mainly from the external environment in which an escalation of the China-U.S. trade war or a slowdown in Italy and Germany, Croatia’s main trading partners, could dent export activity. FocusEconomics panelists project GDP growth of 2.7% in 2018 and 2.7% again in 2019, unchanged from last month’s forecast.
INFLATION | Inflation rises in August
In August, regional inflation increased to 10.5% from 9.4% in July, largely due to an intensification of price pressures in Turkey on the tumbling lira. Higher inflation in Cyprus, Greece, Kosovo, Romania and Serbia also helped push up August’s figure.
Regarding monetary policy, Turkey’s Central Bank hiked its main policy rate from 17.75% to 24.00% in mid-September to protect the currency and rein in runaway inflation, pledging further rate hikes if necessary. In contrast, the central banks of Serbia, Macedonia and Albania stayed put on muted domestic cost pressures.
Developments in Turkey will continue to drive regional inflation going forward. Over the next few quarters, price pressures in Turkey will likely increase due to the pass-through effects from the weaker lira, although Turkish inflation should gradually subside heading into the second half of 2019. With the exception of Turkey, price pressures will be fairly mild across the region next year. In 2018, regional inflation is expected to average 9.0%, before rising to 9.4% in 2019.


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Wax on! British men obsessed with hair removal as demand for 'manscaping' doubles in 12 months
- London salons have seen 73% rise in intimate waxing requests
- 2% of male customers even have Brazilian wax
It was once
considered taboo, but as a result of super groomed male celebrities such as David Beckham flaunting their hair-free bodies 'manscaping' has become increasingly acceptable.
And now, figures from beauty salons reveal that the amount of men turning to hair removal has doubled over the last year.
The latest research has unveiled that the British man is no longer content with rocking the 'natural' look downstairs, with many opting instead for a tidy-up or even a totally smooth look.
David Beckham and Tom Daley are well known for their impeccable male grooming habits and it seems that they're having an effect on the nation
The demand for male waxing in the UK has risen 56 per cent while keeping everything neat,
tidy and inside the lines with subtle ‘manscaping’ has more than doubled
in popularity over the last 12 months.
One salon in the city has even seen a 73 per cent rise in bookings of the 'back, sack and crack' waxing treatment
Some men - 2 per cent - are even opting for the 'Man-zilian' an extreme waxing treatment that removes almost all pubic hair.
When it comes to a thorough grooming, it seems the city boys mean business, with one spa in financial hub Canary Wharf seeing a 73 per cent surge in 'back, sack and crack' wax bookings.
And it's not just hair removal that is bringing the boys to the salon: Wahanda, who carried out the survey, has revealed that spa bookings are up 31% as more men treat themselves to treatments such as facials and massages.
With the laudable amount of care and precision going into this integral part of the male grooming routine, Braun have identified the top styles that dominate the male grooming landscape, which they dub the art of manscaping.
The Tree (20 per cent)
typical version of The Tree involves shaping a moderate amount of hair
on the upper chest with a small trail leading down to the stomach.
Most popular amongst the ‘younger
generation’ (21 per cent), this evergreen approach to manscaping allows
men to proudly display a standard growth of hair all year round.
The Tree: The typical version of The Tree involves shaping a moderate amount of hair on the upper chest with a small trail leading down to the stomach, as modelled by Hugh Jackman
The Top Heavy (15 per cent)
These manscaping heroes rock a well-trimmed mat of hair on the top half of their chest but keep the stomach area smooth.
As seen on Brit legends Keith Lemon and Robbie Williams, this look is popular across the board, sported by men of all ages.
The top heavy: Just like Robbie Williams, this
is a well-trimmed mat of hair on the top half of their chest but a
smooth stomach area
The Rug (14 per cent)
This look epitomises ‘daddy cool’ with celebrity supporters including Tom Selleck and The Hoff.
Fans of this style tend to be 25 years and over, with a chest full of hair to be proud of, keeping the look defined with a quick trim over the summer.
The rug: Fans of this style tend to be 25 years and over like The Hoff, with a chest full of hair to be proud of, keeping the look defined with a quick trim over the summer
The Snail (11 per cent)
This notable male landscape is common amongst younger men who want to keep any hair above the belly button at bay, with a small trail of hair across the stomach.
The snail: This notable male landscape is common amongst younger men like Robert Pattinson
The Woolly Jumper (11 per cent)
impressively, but not for the faint at heart, these hirsute gentlemen
channel their inner-cavemen externally in a style which is most popular
amongst those 31 years and over.
To keep this look under control, trim hair to a suitable length on a regular basis.
The woolly jumper: Men like Pierce Brosnan channel their inner-cavemen with this style
Braun Creative Director Fabio
Vivan added: 'The trick is to trim little and often, this will make
your selected manscape easier to maintain.
'Use a razor in the shower, pulling the skin tight and work gently in the opposite direction of hair growth. Job done.’
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Sarah Ballantyne has been promoted to head of events and will oversee the operation, alongside a team of event managers from across the UK.
"We’ve been speaking to clients, suppliers, holding focus groups with consumers and really doing our research to help us fully understand what brands and guests are looking for when it comes to creating a 'wow' event," she added.
In addition, a new innovation team has been designed to offer brands a dial-up service when in need of a fresh injection of ideas for marketing or communications campaigns.
Combining the talents of creative experts across the UK and North America, the team can be drafted in at any point to work alongside brands on testing, developing and implementing creative campaigns for advertising, social, digital marketing and PR.
Digital director Jessica McAndrew (above, right) said the agency wanted to help brands "add the magic dust" before embarking on a big campaign.
Joanne Spence (above, left) leads the innovation team. She added: "Sometimes the best results come about by shaking things up and causing a little disruption."


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Canadians give themselves dismal grades when it comes to their understanding of common financial products, according to a Rates.ca survey released on Tuesday.
When considering literacy about mortgages and credit cards, 62% and 44% of Canadians, respectively, assessed their skills at six or below out of 10.
The survey found that more women rank themselves at six or below than men when considering their knowledge of mortgages (67% vs. 55%) and credit cards (48% vs. 41%).
Mortgages appear to be a difficult money matter for respondents, as half of Canadians surveyed were unfamiliar or unsure about the types of mortgages available to them. Also, 90% don’t know that interest is charged semi-annually on a fixed-rate mortgage, and 61% don’t know that a minimum down payment of 20% on a mortgage is required to avoid paying government insurance.
When it comes to negotiating a mortgage, 43% were comfortable accomplishing this task online, while 57% prefer to work out a deal in person.
While 75% of Canadians have one to three credit cards, and nearly half of respondents use their cards for 10 purchases or more a month, 68% of them didn’t know that interest on credit cards is calculated daily on their balance.
"In 2019, it's troubling that Canadians continue to have a low comprehension of how money works," said Sara Kesheh, vice president of money at Kanetix Ltd., Rates.ca’s parent company. "Financial literacy is the cornerstone to ensuring your money works hard for you. Without that knowledge, saving, debt management, and even achieving a desired lifestyle may all be negatively impacted."
Forum Research conducted the survey on Sept. 12-15 and polled 1,061 respondents aged 18 to 65+ across the country.


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When your highest volume store is a 9-hour drive from Omaha, Nebraska, it makes sense that Nebraska Furniture Mart would look at its branding.
Much like how Kentucky Fried Chicken evolved into KFC, in order to reflect that it had more than fried chicken, Berkshire Hathaway’s Nebraska Furniture Mart is streamlining its logo branding to NFM.
After all, it’s 658 miles from Omaha, Nebraska to Dallas, Texas, and a store named for a faraway state may not resonate as much in Texas.
“It’s not an official name change, just a logo update, Nebraska Furniture Mart spokesman Andy Shefsky told the Dallas Morning News. “We sell a lot more than just furniture, and we’re in a lot more than just Nebraska,” he said. “It’s simply modernizing, reflective of who we are as a company, but not forgetting that Nebraska is our everything.”
The Dallas store will see its Nebraska Furniture Mart exterior signage replaced with NFM sometime in the spring of 2020.
© 2019 David Mazor
Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.


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Pumpkin Template Skull And Crossbones Why Pumpkin Template Skull And Crossbones Had Been So Popular Till Now?
The anamnesis actuality appear today by the U.S. Consumer Product Assurance Commission includes both the flashlights that WalletPop abundant on Oct. 1 — a three-pack of mini flashlights — as able-bodied as a additional set of flashlights with stencils that activity six altered Hallloween images. Chicago TV base WBBM appear the problems with those flashlights.
Consumers are asked to accompany the Chinese-made flashlights aback to any Target abundance for a abounding refund. The flashlights can overheat and melt, assuming a accident of burns. Eight incidents were reported, including one adolescent who was burned, the CPSC said.
Two out of three of the mini flashlights acclimated by WalletPop broiled — one smoker and crackling afore it was extinguished. The added was abolished as it began to melt.
Target admiral ordered the flashlights off the shelves at its food the aforementioned day WalletPop told the banker about the problems and anon continued an action to acquittance anyone who had purchased them. But the official advertisement of a anamnesis by the federal assurance bureau will accord added bodies the befalling to apprentice that the flashlights are not safe.
The mini flashlights accept a key arena at the bottom. They were awash for $1 and came in three packs absolute orange, blooming and atramentous flashlights. The packaging is orange and amethyst and reads “Mini Flashlights (3 Pack)” printed on the advanced and “DGI”, “Made in China” and “DPCI# 234-02-1813” on the back.
DGI is Devrian Global Industries of Warren, N.J., allotment of Horizon Group USA. An official there beneath to animadversion aback asked about problems with the flashlights, but did ask for the broiled flashlights.
The added flashlights are of a accepted admeasurement and accept a atramentous handle and an orange top. They came with six stencils that activity the images of a pumpkin, ghost, spider, cat, witch and skull and cross-bones. “Flashlight with Stencil” is printed on the advanced and “Tien Hsing,” “Made in China” and” 234 02 1838″ is printed on the aback of the packaging. Those flashlights awash for $2.50.
For added information, consumers can alarm Target weekdays amid 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. Eastern Time at (800) 440-0680.
Pumpkin Template Skull And Crossbones Why Pumpkin Template Skull And Crossbones Had Been So Popular Till Now? – pumpkin template skull and crossbones
| Pleasant to help our website, within this time period We’ll teach you about keyword. Now, here is the initial graphic:


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Merck Serono to lose Swiss HQ and 500 people
This article was originally published in Scrip
Merck KGaA will close the Geneva headquarters of its pharmaceutical business, Merck Serono, and cut 500 jobs, according to cost-saving plans announced today. "It just wasn't working financially to have two pharmaceutical headquarters and R&D hubs in Europe," a spokesperson told Scrip. "The whole point of the efficiency programme is to make the company more profitable and viable for the future."


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After 12 months of enduring criticism for issuing a sell call on Apple, Edward Zabitsky of ACI Research was vindicated in January 2013. Zabitsky reiterated his sell call in January 2012 and stuck to his guns—eventually outperforming the market by 16 percent.
Zabitsky issued the sell recommendation with a $270 price target on Jan. 25, 2012, and was widely ridiculed as the stock was then trading at $447. He endured more criticism as the year progressed, especially when Apple rallied to an all-time high of $702 in September 2012, following the release of its iPhone 5.
“Does anyone care what Ed Zabitsky says about Apple?” asked CNN’s Philip Elmer-DeWitt in February of last year. In April, Elmer-DeWitt blasted Zabitsky again after shares rallied to $644.
“We got yet another Apple note from Zabitsky on Thursday. Same $270 price target. Same advice to sell the stock short. No apology to anybody who might have followed his earlier advice and lost their shirt.”
On March 1, 2013, Apple’s shares hit a 52-week low of $430, losing 1.8 percent. Shares are down another 1 percent in early New York trading March 4. While Apple has not reached Zabitsky’s price target yet, his call is profitable since Jan. 25, 2013, precisely one year after he told clients to short-sell the stock.
“I was right last year. I’ve been right over the last year, that’s all you can say,” Zabitsky told the Epoch Times, saying that his other stock picks are actually doing better. According to Starmine, a service provider for professional investors, Zabitsky was the best industry stock picker for semiconductors and semiconductor equipment over 2012.
In his note from last year, as quoted by CNN Money, he cited widely available wireless internet as one of the reasons why Apple would soon run into trouble: “The internet is the great equalizer. It saved Apple during the rise of the wired broadband internet. It will level the playing field for other vendors with the rise of the true mobile broadband internet.”
“People realize they can get the internet properties that they want, the key ones [Facebook, YouTube, Google Maps, Netflix, ESPN] they can get these basically anywhere,” he explained in a phone interview on March 1, 2013.
Long Term Investing Painful
Perhaps Mr. Elmer-DeWitt should have taken Mr. Zabitsky’s investment time horizon more seriously.
“My targets are based upon my expectations for the business over a two year time frame. They are not based upon the current share price,” Zabitsky personally told Elmer-DeWitt last year, according to a CNN post. This illustrates the old investing adage that long-term investing can be very painful.
If you have a contrarian call, you often have to wait a long time before the market follows suit. If your analysis is correct, you make money. If your analysis is incorrect, you will have already lost a lot of money before you realize it.
Before Apple released its latest earnings in January 2013, Zabitsky was one of only two analysts who had a sell rating on the stock. All other 48 analysts had a buy rating, with Topeka’s Brian White looking for a price target of $1111.
While the absolute gain of selling the shares on Jan. 25, 2012, might have been small, in professional investing, everything is measured relative to the rest of the market. The NASDAQ composite index, where Apple has a heavy weighting, is up 12.5 percent from Jan. 25, 2012, to the close of March 1, 2013.
Apple stock is down 3.6 percent during the same time. This relative difference of 16.1 percent is a lot for large cap companies and would earn institutional fund managers a large bonus if they could replicate it for their whole portfolio.
As for the future, Mr. Zabitsky thinks that Apple will struggle with the low-end competition of what he calls “good enough” phones. They will be lower quality, but can essentially provide the same internet services for a much lower price.
He doesn’t think Samsung will be the spearhead of this move, but rather a host of smaller companies in Asia.
“Some buyers are luxury high-end … there will always be that … A significant portion of buyers of iPhones have been value buyers, have been people who realized that they can get a lot of things in one place at a very reasonable price, who are no longer seeing Apple as the greatest value out there.”
According to Zabitsky, Apple and other high-end brands also will no longer be able to count on its coolness factor to keep prices and margins high: “Coolness comes and coolness goes. I knew some kids that were cool in high-school. They are not cool anymore.”
The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 21 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.


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Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday met a delegation of onion growing farmers in Mumbai and said he will raise the problems faced by them before the Centre.
The Chief Ministers Office (CMO) tweeted that during his meeting with the delegation, Thackeray also said that the state government will follow up with the Centre to increase onion stock holding limit and urged traders to start auction of the commodity in Maharashtra.
I am aware of the problems onion cultivating farmers are facing and I will raise the same before the Centre. The (state) government stands firmly with the farmers and will remain so, Thackeray said, according to the CMO.
To contain onion prices, the Centre imposed stock holding limit on retail and wholesale traders till December 31 to improve the domestic availability of the commodity and provide relief to consumers.
Retailers can stock up onion up to 2 tonnes, whereas wholesale traders are allowed to keep up to 25 tonnes, it said.
To register their protest against the Centre's move, traders kept off onion auctions in all 15 Agriculture Produce Market Committees (mandis) in Nashik, including at Lasalgaon APMC, Asia's biggest onion market.


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Police in Thessaloniki say they have broken up a large illegal tobacco racket believed to have cost the state up to 150 million euros in lost taxes and customs tariffs.
A police investigation that began last year led to the discovery of 70 tons of illegal tobacco and 177 million cigarettes.
Officers also found machinery used for the assembly and packaging of cigarettes at two locations used as factories for the operation.
During their raids police further seized 32 trucks, 15 cars, 165 license plates, 103 stamps, fake documents, electronic devices and mobile phones.
The probe additionally uncovered a number of warehouses being used by the racket in various locations around western Attica.
According to the investigation, the racket employed 40 people and was led by a 49-year-old ethnic Greek from Kazakhstan. Three other suspects, including his 25-year-old son, are believed to be his close associates.
The Greek Police’s general inspector for northern Greece, Christos Dragatakis, said on Thursday that the racket has been operating for at least five years, selling illegal cigarettes and other tobacco products on the black market in Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Italy, Spain, the UK and other parts of Europe.


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There was no better way to bring multigenerational Latino communities together to celebrate Latino Heritage Month than with a traditional game that has been part of the culture for hundreds of years.
This year, in celebration of Latino Heritage Month, McDonald’s and the creative director and founder of the famous game Millennial Lotería, Mike Alfaro, partnered to design a special McDonald’s themed edition of the iconic game Lotería, sometimes referred to as the “Mexican Bingo.”
Alfaro is a Latino artist who grew up in Guatemala. At age 18, he moved to California to study at Chapman University. In 2010, he graduated with a BA degree in advertising and public relations. In addition to his partnership with McDonald’s, Alfaro has previously collaborated with Doritos, Jack in the Box, Honda, DC Comics, HBO, Target, Taco Bell, Maker’s Mark Whiskey and Walt Disney Pictures.
The Millennial Lotería game was created by Alfaro back in 2017. It brings a modern twist on the classic Lotería game and takes it to an entirely new level by reimagining the characters and updating their labels with trendy terms and slang from both Spanish and English to appeal to younger Millennial audiences. It “is a party game for a new Latino generation,” as the game’s official website states.
“Representation is a big part of why I started Millennial Lotería,” Alfaro told CALÓ NEWS.
With the representation of Latino heritage and culture in mind, McDonald’s contacted Alfaro to design the special edition of the game. Engaging with the large Latino community of Southern California by providing a familiar game in a familiar community hub – that hub being McDonald’s restaurants – to fuel Latino pride is one of McDonald’s main goals.
The McDonald’s special edition of the Lotería game was provided exclusively to restaurants across Southern California at game night events beginning October 5 until the end of October in select locations across Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and Ventura counties. Participants will have a chance to win a limited-edition McDonald’s-themed game, among many other prizes like gift cards and t-shirts. The McDonald’s-themed game will also be available to fans to win through Millennial Loteria’s social media giveaways.
“For Hispanic Heritage Month [McDonald’s] wanted to do something that really talked to the Latino consumer here in Southern California, because we love playing Lotería but also that it incorporated that nostalgia of going into Mcdonald’s as a kid,” Alfaro said.
In Latin America, the classic Loteria game is commonly played at birthday parties and other celebrations. The game is a great way for the community to bond while engaging in a fun activity. Bringing the McDonald’s-themed version of the game to the Southern California communities is designed to engage Latinos from all generations, from the older folks who have played the classic game to kids who love getting their Happy Meals at McDonald’s.
Appealing to the bilingual culture of Latinos in Southern California was another goal of the game’s design process. Alfaro said that he achieved this goal by making the creative decision to write the labels of the lotería cards in Spanglish, which is a combination of Spanish and English words.
“I made sure that there’s Spanglish in this version. I wanted to make something that represented how bilingual and bicultural the communities that live here are,” Alfaro said.
The first Lotería game night launched on Oct. 5 and took place in Whittier, California. According to Alfaro, the game night consisted of multiple rounds of lotería, making sure that there were a wide number of winners. It was a special night for Alfaro, he said, as he got the opportunity to interact with fans, players, McDonald’s employees and managers.
“Our event was in Whittier and I got so many comments from people being like ‘Oh my gosh! Events like this don’t happen in Whittier. Thank you so much for coming to the community,’” Alfaro said.
Reflecting upon the success of the first game night, Alfaro has high hopes to one day expand beyond Southern California to host numerous events like the McDonald’s-themed Loteria Game nights.
The game-night events required no purchase from participating McDonald’s restaurants to join the game, although food will be available for sale during the events.
For more information about Alfaro, you can visit mikealfaro.com or check him out on linkedin as Mike Alfaro. To learn more about the McDonald’s-themed Lotería you can visit Millennial Loteria on instagram @millennialloteria.


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It has been another exciting week for all things tech, travel and #tech4travel, with numerous developments enhancing the customer journey and making travel a truly incredible experience…
- In an effort to speed up, simplify and digitalize the airport experience, Lufthansa Group has announced that it will use biometric boarding procedures at LAX (via Travel Pulse).
- A cross-party group of MPs has demanded urgent action “to clarify” the security assurances of accommodation platforms such as Airbnb and demanded “a level playing field” on standards (via Travel Weekly).
- Bd4travel talks about personalisation, adopting test and learn and traveller intent (via Tnooz).
- Amadeus company, travel audience, has partnered with Dubai Tourism to use its travel advertising platform. Dubai is also using Amadeus Destination Insight to better gather information on global travel, booking and scheduling data (via Travel Pulse).
- Ride-hailing app Uber has suspended its self-driving car tests in all North American cities after a woman was killed in an accident involving one (via Travolution).
- Jet2holidays.com has been ranked as the highest performing tourism organisation in the latest UK Customer Satisfaction Index (via Travel Weekly).
- The U.S. State Department has lifted its travel ban barring government employees from visiting Playa del Carmen, Mexico (via Travel Pulse).
- The average room rate per night paid by UK travellers for accommodation when booking through Hotels.com has gone up for the first time in three years (via Travolution).
- A significant portion of today’s frequent business travellers are stressing out over work trips, and some are turning to unhealthy means to combat the unwelcome tension (via Travel Pulse).
- A hospitality group recently released an annual salary report that highlighted the continued wage gap between men and women within the travel industry (via Travel Pulse).
Thanks for reading! Come back next week for the best news that tech, travel and #tech4travel has to offer.


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Sunny Leone likes to wear many hats. The Bollywood actress not just kes herself busy with her film and TV commitments, but has also involved herself in a couple of business pursuits. She has a perfume, Lust by Sunny Leone, for men and women, and a fashion line called Suncity Store. Now, she is ready to increase her portfolio by launching a cruelty-free make-up line, called Star Struck, which will include lipsticks, liners, and glosses. Sunny recently shot for a video for the brand in Los Angeles, USA,
and the behind-the-scenes images found their way to social media.


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A bill introduced by three members of Congress’ progressive wing seeks to dramatically up the regulation and oversight of stablecoins.
The Stablecoin Tethering and Bank Licensing Enforcement—or STABLE—Act seeks to “protect consumers from the risks posed by emerging digital payment instruments, such as Facebook’s Libra and other Stablecoins currently offered in the market, by regulating their issuance and related commercial activities,” its sponsors said in a release.
Specifically, it would require stablecoin issuers to:
- Obtain a federal bank charter
- Follow existing banking regulations
- Obtain approval of the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) six months before issuance
- Either get FDIC insurance or deposit the dollar reserves backing their stablecoin with the Fed—the central bank of the U.S.
The proposal drew vigorous opposition from Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle Internet Financial, which issues the USDC stablecoin. In a Dec. 2 Twitter thread, he said:
“The STABLE Act would represent a huge step backwards for digital currency innovation in the United States, limiting the accelerating progress of both the blockchain and fintech industry.”
While acknowledging that “there is clearly a critical long-term role for the Fed to play in the development of the standards and supervision around stablecoins,” Allaire tweeted:
“Forcing crypto, fintech and blockchain companies into the enormous regulatory burdens of Federal Reserve and FDIC regulation and supervision is inconsistent with the goals of supporting innovation in the fair and inclusive delivery of payments that comes from stablecoins.”
The Federal Reserve’s role should focus on “technical and governance standards for stablecoins,” he said. Rather than forcing stablecoins into the square hole of existing banking regulations, it would be smarter to consider new types of charters and supervision, he added.
“An enormous amount of the innovation brought to the underbanked and small businesses has been driven by non-bank fintech companies,” said Allaire. He singled out Stripe, Square, PayPal, Circle, Coinbase, Apple, and Google, “among many many others.”
Vulnerable consumers and predatory banks
The bill’s authors, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García (D-IL) and Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA)—who is chairman of House Financial Services Committee’s Task Force on Financial Technology—have pitched the bill as protecting low- and moderate-income consumers.
Which points to the most difficult aspect of the STABLE Act to wrap your head around: That it attacks the traditional banking industry for a host of predatory practices while simultaneously suggesting that subjecting stablecoin issuers to the regulations that have failed to keep those banks in check will somehow keep crypto firms honest.
According to the release, vulnerable consumers “could be exploited and obscured by bad actors looking to issue stablecoins, like other shadow money issuers in the past.”
It then links to an April article in The New Republic focused on lightly regulated “shadow banks” ranging from Quicken Loans to BlackRock to PayPal, which it links to the 2007 subprime mortgage crisis.
“Getting ahead of the curve on preventing cryptocurrency providers from repeating the crimes against low- and moderate-income residents of color that traditional big banks have is—and has been—critically important,” Rep. Tlaib said in the release
The release also takes aim at Facebook’s Libra stablecoin project, saying it “has attempted to take advantage of the financial exclusion and gap in the market,” citing concerns raised in July hearings by the House Financial Services Committee.
The Libra Association—which renamed itself the Diem Association earlier this week—has long pitched itself as a champion of the poor and unbanked, notably immigrant workers who must currently send home remittances at usurious fees.
Rep. García took aim at the “Trump administration’s deregulation of our financial system,” saying it “has opened the door for tech companies to consolidate their power by preying on people of color with products that promise inclusion but only undermine our banking system.”
The goal of the STABLE Act, by contrast, is to “ensure that new financial technologies and payment tools do not prey on vulnerable users,” he said, adding that “it embraces innovation while also protecting consumers.”
That last comment drew the ire of Nik Kunkel, head of backend services at the fintech MakerDAO. He he tweeted:
“yea no this bill does none of that. It kills American competitiveness and encourages entrepreneurs to emigrate to friendlier jurisdictions. Very short-sighted.”
The release also took aim at Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks—a former Coinbase exec—for pro-cryptocurrency actions like allowing banks to custody digital assets for clients and proposing a rule that would prevent financial institutions from discriminating against industries (like crypto).
What is not clear, however, is whether the word “tethering” in the legislation’s name is a pun on the largest stablecoin tether—or USDT—which is not otherwise mentioned in the congressmembers’ press release.


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Nissan ‘Develops’ Unnecessary Signal Shield to Eliminate Smartphone Distractions While Driving
Last week, Nissan’s European division proudly announced that it had developed a new feature for use in the Juke that effectively eliminates all cellular signals. In the release, the company praised its UK team for coming up with a 21st century application that uses Victorian-era technology, saying “the beauty of the design is its simplicity.”
Obviously, Nissan is making a play to convince news outlets to cover the prototype and highlight the company’s clever engineering and commitment to safety. While we will happily take the baitÂ and comment on the device, we would be negligent in our duties to consider the itemÂ as anything other than an complete waste of resources. TheÂ Signal Shield is as useful to motorists as a pair of glovesÂ would be to a person without arms.Â
Literally a Faraday cage, an invention dating back to the early 1800s, Nissan’sÂ Signal Shield allows drivers to place their cell phone intoÂ a center console that eliminates all Bluetooth and Wi-Fi communications when closed. The brand believes its invention will save lives, citing statistics from Britain’s RAC Telematics that show a significant increase of in-car smartphone usage between 2014 and 2016.
â€œOur research shows that handheld phone use by drivers has reached epidemic proportions,” RAC road safety spokesman Pete Williams said. “As mobile phone technology has advanced significantly many people have become addicted to them. However, the use of a handheld phone when driving represents both a physical and mental distraction and it has been illegal since 2003.”
â€œThe Nissan Signal Shield is a good example of a technology that can help drivers be phone smart. For those who canâ€™t avoid the temptation, this simple but pretty clever tech gives them a valuable mobile-free zone.”
This would make theÂ Signal Shield an invaluable safety feature if we lived in a world where phones could not be shut off. In case you’ve never owned any electronic device in history, the vast majority feature a button or switch that allows you to make them temporarily inoperable. Don’t worry, they can be reactivated again â€” as if by magic â€”Â using the same process.
Another downside is that the shield is only helpful if a driver voluntarily decides to place their smartphone into the specially designed armrest. Of course, it does offerÂ drivers the ability listen to the musicÂ stored on their smartphone via USB or auxiliary port. However, in order to change tracks when sourcing from AUX, operators would be required to remove their device from the boxÂ â€” risking a sudden influx of distracting text messages as the phone regains cellular service.
While we’d like to credit Nissan for making the effort here, we just can’t.Â You can build your own miniature EMF shielding bagÂ for next to nothing, or purchase one online for about ten bucks. But it’s still not an effective deterrent until you place your phone inside and toss the bag into the trunk. Meanwhile, Nissan’s solution has the object resting less than a foot away from your arm at all times.Â The entire concept is on par with someone securing a handgun under a couch and relying on their children’s good intentions not to play with it. Phone addicted drivers aren’t going to be defeated by a wallet-sized Faraday cage that’s less effective than simply turning the deviceÂ off or placing it in airplane mode.
via The Truth About Cars http://ift.tt/Jh8LjA
May 10, 2017 at 08:21AM
Royal Industry News
Top news stories about the automotive industry. And, news from around the world.


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This cannabis share is on a high today…
The post Here’s why the Althea (ASX:AGH) share price is racing higher today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia. –
The Althea Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: AGH) share price has been a positive performer on Wednesday.
In early trade, the cannabis company’s shares are up 4.5% to 33.5 cents.
Why is the Althea share price on a high today?
Investors have been buying Althea’s shares this morning after it announced its expansion into a new market.
According to the release, the company has completed its first shipment of Althea medicinal cannabis products to its local partner in South Africa. Althea’s exclusive distributor in the country, Africann, is a licensed cannabis wholesaler specialising in the import and distribution of medicinal cannabis products.
Management believes this first shipment of Althea products is a major achievement for the company and expects it to provide Althea with an early mover advantage in the emerging South African medicinal cannabis industry. This market is estimated to be worth approximately US$667 million by 2023.
Althea’s CEO, Joshua Fegan, believes that this latest development supports its ambition to become the world’s leading supplier of cannabis-based medicines.
He said: “We are excited to have exported our initial shipment of Althea products for South Africa. This development once again reflects our ambition and progress in becoming the world’s leading supplier of cannabis-based medicines.”
“The Althea brand continues to build trust and enduring loyalty with Healthcare Professionals and patients all over the globe, with South Africa the latest country able to experience our unrivalled market access program,” Mr Fegan concluded.
Investors will no doubt be hoping that today’s development is the catalyst to getting the Althea share price heading in the right direction again.
After all, even after today’s gain, the Althea share price is down by 24% since the start of the year. This is similar to the declines being recorded by fellow cannabis shares such as Cann Group Ltd (ASX: CAN) and Creso Pharma Ltd (ASX: CPH) in 2021.
Should you invest $1,000 in Althea right now?
Before you consider Althea, you’ll want to hear this.
Motley Fool Investing expert Scott Phillips just revealed what he believes are the 5 best stocks for investors to buy right now… and Althea wasn’t one of them.
The online investing service he’s run for nearly a decade, Motley Fool Share Advisor, has provided thousands of paying members with stock picks that have doubled, tripled or even more.* And right now, Scott thinks there are 5 stocks that are better buys.
*Returns as of May 24th 2021
Sky Network (ASX:SKT) share price flies following NRL partnership
Is this the secret ingredient that could make Moderna shareholders rich?
Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.


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Nike announced on Tuesday that they’re manufacturing face shields and respirator lenses for healthcare workers to fight COVID-19.
Following Nike’s donation of over $15 million to battle the CCP virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus, the sportswear company is partnering with Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) to help provide healthcare workers with protective gear.
“Without proper facial protection, healthcare workers are at a higher risk of contracting the virus, which could place substantial strain on the healthcare workforce in the months ahead,” said Miko Enomoto, associate professor of anesthesiology and perioperative medicine at OHSU School of Medicine.
When OHSU showed its current face shield, Nike made it a goal to make a similar face shield with Nike-owned materials and manufacturing facilities.
Nike said that it will be repurposing shoe materials such as Nike Air plastic bubble technology to make shields.
The aim is to make not only high-quality shields and lenses but ones that allow a simple model of production, Nike added.
“The full-face shields help protect healthcare workers’ faces and also help to prolong the length we can safely use a surgical or N95 mask,” Enomoto said.
“Nike’s generous response to the COVID-19 crisis helps to instill an added layer of confidence and support for healthcare workers, that we can safely carry out the jobs we were born to do.”
“OHSU is extremely grateful to the team at Nike for their generous offer to help OHSU in our coordination with other health systems during this unprecedented time,” OHSU told Business Insider.
“We are committed to ongoing discussions regarding their efforts to develop prototype face shields to help ensure the safety and well-being of health care professionals.”
Nike shipped its first finished product on April 3 to OHSU.
The company says that their lenses and shields will be donated to health systems in Nike’s World Headquarters region, including Providence, Legacy Health Systems, Kaiser Permanente, and others across the state of Oregon.
New Balance also announced last week that it would manufacture facial masks for hospital workers to fight against the global pandemic.
The brand’s goal is to produce up to 100,000 masks per week at its factories in Lawrence, Massachusetts and Norridgewock, Maine.


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Geek Retreat Coming Soon!
We are excited to confirm that Geek Retreat plan to open in August bringing a new concept in entertainment retail, events and eating out to Barons Quay.
Local businessmen Callum Franchetti (27) and Kyle Preece (29) from Castle are finally going to fulfil their dream of opening a local game store and cafe in the town, after delays caused by the coronavirus outbreak and lockdown.
The business partners, who are also friends, met at work and found that they shared a passion for pastimes such as video games, comics and trading cards. They now plan to combine their love of all things ‘geeky’ with their extensive retail knowledge to open a franchise of Geek Retreat in Barons Quay.
The Northwich store will be the 11th Geek Retreat in the country, and promises to bring something completely new and quirky to the town, providing a place where people can stop in and geek out!
Shoppers can expect to find the latest comics, trading card games such as Magic: The Gathering, Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh, board games, video games, toys and American candy. The cafe will serve an American-diner inspired menu including; burgers, fries, paninis, hot dogs as well as the famous Geek Retreat create your own milkshakes!
Once restrictions are lifted the owners will also look to hold regular events at the Barons Quay store.
Kyle Preece said: “It has been a tough few months for everyone, but right now we are feeling positive about the future and I’m confident that Geek Retreat will be well received by the people of Northwich. Being local lads, it’s amazing to be launching our business in our home town and we look forward to being part of Northwich’s recovery and future growth.”
Callum Franchetti said: “The space we have at Barons Quay will allow us to explore new and exciting concepts for the store and will mean that we can easily accommodate social distancing measures allowing people to shop and visit the cafe with confidence. We have some fun things planned for the launch, but we’re keeping those to ourselves for now!”
Lina Higuita, Centre Manager at Barons Quay said: “We are delighted to welcome Geek Retreat to Barons Quay, they are bringing something completely new to the Centre and Northwich that will be popular with everyone, not just the ‘geek’ community. Their passion and knowledge of the industry will stand them in good stead and ensure that they deliver excellent customer service.”
Geek Retreat is situated at Unit 7, next to Puddle Ducks swim school and opposite Wildwood restaurant. The pair are aiming to be open by the end of August, but if you can’t wait until then orders can be made on their website https://northwich.geek-retreat.com/


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Min-Jeong Lee writes about technology from The Wall Street Journal's Seoul bureau. Her coverage areas include companies such as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics and industry topics such as smartphones, televisions and semiconductors. South Korea's entertainment industry, including K-pop, is another topic she occasionally writes about. Follow her on Twitter: @LeeMinjeong83
As Apple’s new large-screen iPhone starts to hit shelves around the world, the latest Samsung Electronics Galaxy Note 4 smartphone has also—quietly—begun presales. But the odds don’t look great for the Note.
The founder of Agabang & Company, a South Korean maker of popular baby clothes, is selling his stake in the company as growth slows at least partly because of a trend he can't do anything about: the country's falling birthrate.
South Korea is moving to ease online gaming rules on kids.
A national regulation imposed three years ago and known as the “shutdown” rule forces kids under the age of 16 to stop playing online games between midnight and 6 a.m. It will now be lifted upon parental request, the government said in a statement this week.
A few days ago, Sundar Pichai, the head of Google Inc.’s Android mobile operating system came to Seoul to say that his company will open a startup center in Seoul to give entrepreneurs here more exposure.
Samsung Electronics, which unveiled its very first Android-powered smartwatch around this time last year, said Thursday it plans to show off a standalone wrist-phone in Berlin next week that supports 3G wireless networks.
CVC Capital Partners, one of Europe's largest private equity firms, is in talks to potentially sell its South Korean company WiniaMando Inc., a manufacturer of refrigerators for storing kimchi, the country’s national dish.


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The Kerala government on Saturday enhanced the daily limit of pilgrims who could participate in this year’s monthly (Karkkidaka) pooja in Sabrimala has been increased from 5,000 to 10,000.
The state had allowed the temple to resume monthly rituals at Sabrimala from 16 to 18 July subject to strict adherence to Covid-19 protocols. A maximum of 5,000 devotees was allowed through the online booking system.
Kerala Government enhanced the daily limit of
pilgrims permitted for this year's Sabrimala monthly (Karkkidaka) pooja from 5,000 to 10,000 pic.twitter.com/mnDcTTwV6p
— ANI (@ANI) July 17, 2021
Covid-19 protocol, including wearing masks and social distancing, will be strictly followed. Those who wish to visit the temple will have to provide a complete COVID-19 vaccination certificate or a negative RT-PCR report within 48 hours of the visit.
The announcement by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was made along with relaxations on certain activities like opening of electronic shops, film shooting and the number of people allowed into places of worship. Tn view of Bakrid (Eid-ul-Azha) being celebrated on July 21 in the state, textiles, footwear shops, jewellery, fancy stores, shops selling home appliances and electronic items, all types of repairing shops and shops selling essential items shall be allowed to open on July 18, 19 and 20 from 7 AM to 8 PM in category A, B and C areas. In D category areas, these shops can function only on July 19, he said.
Explaining the four-level categories of areas based on Test Positivity Rate (TPR) of less than five per cent are included in category A, those with 5 to 10 per cent are included in category B, areas with 10 to 15 per cent in category C and those above 15 per cent will be in category D. “Along with the other permitted activities, electronic shops and electronic repair shops can also be opened on all days from 7 AM to 8 PM in category A and B areas and during permitted days in other categories,” he said.
Besides that, beauty parlors and barber shops can function for hairstyling only on the days on which other shops are permitted in A and B category areas, he said and added that owners of such establishments should ensure that their staff have received at least one dose of the vaccine. Places of worship can be allowed with a maximum of 40 people on special occasions of celebration, the Chief Minister said and added that people in charge there should ensure that the number is maintained.


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The global internet of things (IoT) managed services market is expected to more than triple by 2025 to reach US$166.7 billion, according to analyst firm Frost & Sullivan, which claimed the five-year outlook for the market would be more than triple that of 2020’s value, which reached US$53.6 billion.
The analyst firm mentioned, growth in the managed services market will rise due to increased IoT adoption by companies looking for services related to assistance across connectivity, cyber security, data management, device management and infrastructure management,
Frost & Sullivan senior industry analyst Deepali Sathe said, “While the recent pandemic adversely affected expansion across verticals, the impact is expected to be short to medium term, and businesses will recover.
“Technology adoption across verticals has been increasing as the benefits of IoT are quantified for companies to move from pilot and proof of concept stage to implementation,” she informed adding that almost all verticals, such as manufacturing, retail, healthcare, utilities, and energy, are expected to regain strong growth trajectories.
The research — which covered Asia Pacific (APAC), North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa — found that APAC is expected to be the fastest growing region for the market, followed by North America.
Sathe said while some APAC countries are ahead due to governments promoting infrastructure development, parts of Asia, Latin America and Africa lag behind, as 2G and 3G form the bulk of connectivity infrastructure in these regions.
North America and Europe however lead the pack in relation to 5G, LTE-M and Narrowband-IoT deployment, but high spectrum costs will result in higher cost of services, in turn affecting providers.
Meanwhile, infrastructure development and regulations face regional disparities, which is a challenge for mobile network operators — an important role within paid IoT connectivity, the research noted.
More importantly, the lack of standardization in the IoT industry has resulted in an extremely fragmented ecosystem. This has led to users struggling to find solutions and devices that are interoperable and compatible with their existing systems, it observes.
The research firm highlights some key recommendations:
- Private mobile networks: Vendors that want to deploy private mobile networks should look for partners that can provide relevant connectivity solutions.
- eSIM and iSIM for global connectivity: As more digital first devices are launched into the market, IoT-managed service providers can leverage this growth opportunity with eSIMs and iSIMs.
- Vertical solutions: Companies must leverage the services and expertise of a managed services provider that can embark on a long term collaborative partnership to execute their IoT strategies and enable their vision.
- Intelligent edge: Managed services providers can deliver the benefits of intelligent edge, including reduced costs, latency, and security risks.
Addressing this challenge and focusing on the following strategic recommendations will offer tremendous growth prospects for IoT-managed services providers, Frost & Sullivan stated.


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The news that Apple planned to unveil its third-generation iPad in early March sent Apple’s stock soaring to $500 and beyond, and it brought back a meme that has come and gone quite frequently over the past year: “Apple is worth more than.” Ever since Apple began to go back and forth with Exxon for the title of most valuable company in the world, the media has become obsessed with finding combinations of companies, national debts and other interesting things that Apple is worth more than. The game has become quite easy now that Apple has put some separation between itself and Exxon — as of market close on Friday, Apple’s market capitalization topped $460 billion while Exxon’s value sat at just under $397 billion — but in the context of Apple’s rivals, there are two key areas where this meme is of particular interest. Read on for more.
Last week as Apple’s stock price shot up to within a few dollars of $500, the Apple is worth more than meme claimed two new victims: Google and Microsoft. The combined value of Apple’s two main smartphone platform rivals fell just short of Apple’s market cap last week, and as of Friday’s close the companies’ value totaled $452.88 billion. Apple’s market cap as of Friday’s close is $460.05 billion. That in itself is mind boggling, but there is another equally impressive angle that wasn’t covered last week.
Apple is worth more than every single one of its smartphone vendor rivals combined.
Morgan Keegan analyst Tavis McCourt noted last week that Apple managed to pull in 80% of all smartphone industry profits in the fourth calendar quarter of 2011 by his estimates. Considering Apple posted the most profitable quarter in history among technology companies, this shouldn’t be terribly surprising. Apple’s dominance becomes even more apparent, however, when looking at the smartphone industry from a different angle… the value of the key players within the industry.
As of Friday’s close, the combined market capitalization of each of Apple’s key vendor rivals — Samsung, Nokia, HTC, Motorola Mobility, RIM, Sony and LG — sits at $225.36 billion. Apple is worth more than twice that figure.
While those seven companies, along with Apple, represent all of the major global players in the smartphone industry, there are a number of other companies with sizable smartphone businesses such as Huawei, ZTE, Kyocera and Sharp. Add on the combined value of those four companies and the total now sits at $259.08 billion.
Acer, Philips and Toshiba each sell smartphones as well, though mobile devices are certainly not at the center of their respective businesses. They’re still industry players, however, and their combined market value brings the total to just over $300 billion as of Friday’s close.
ASUS also makes smartphones along with the notebooks and tablets it is best known for, and Alcatel-Lucent has a few handsets on the market as well. And what about Dell? The Texas-based tech giant has slowed its mobile efforts recently, but it still has two smartphone models on the market. With these three companies accounted for, the combined total value of all smartphone vendors excluding Apple climbs to $343.17 billion as of the close of the market on Friday.
There are a handful of other companies that sell smartphones but for all intents and purposes, these 17 brands make up Apple’s competition. And when their market caps are combined, the total value of these 17 companies is still more than $100 billion short of Apple’s current value.


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About $300 million of Micron's $1.9 billion in sales last year came from federal, state and local governments, according to company officials.
"We stumbled into the results we've had based on hard work from our sales force," Heisler told Washington Technology. "We're now saying at the highest level of the company that the government is an important segment."
Heisler, 45, worked at computer reseller Government Technology Services Inc., Chantilly, Va., for 10 years and then as an industry consultant before joining Micron. He declined to disclose how many people he plans to hire or to project sales for 1998.
"We will be putting in an aggressive plan for 1999," said Heisler. "I expect we will be a significantly larger organization next year than we are today," he said about the federal division, which has no dedicated sales force.
The federal government generated about $200 million of Nampa, Idaho-based Micron's $1.9 billion in sales last year, company officials said.
Competition, poor execution and plummeting computer prices pricked Micron's growth over the last year, analysts and company executives said. During the second quarter of 1998, for example, the price of Micron's notebook computers dropped below what it costs the company to make them.
"What was very clear was the company had great products but was not executing the direct sales model," said Joel Kocher, Micron's president and chief operating officer.
Sales for the second quarter, which ended Feb. 26, dipped to $495 million, a 3 percent decline from sales of $510 million for the same period a year ago. Net income for the second quarter was $24.8 million. In 1997, Micron had net income of $87.3 million.
The company's stock hit a 52-week low of $8.43 in January and is now trading at about $12 a share.
"They're really trying to play catch up with Dell and Gateway," said Scott Butler, a research analyst at Pacific Crest Securities, a Portland, Ore.-based business research firm.
"They experienced quite favorable growth when the computer market was a little younger," he said. "When prices started falling dramatically, it impacted them significantly."
Butler said the company started slipping about a year ago. Still, he said it has made some smart changes to stay competitive, such as hiring Kocher. The 41-year-old Kocher worked at Dell Computer Corp., Round Rock, Texas, from 1987 to 1994 as president of worldwide marketing, sales and service.
In the last six months the company has replaced much of its senior management team and transferred about 10 percent of its work force - 450 people - to its parent company, Micron Technology Inc., Boise, Idaho. Micron Technology, which makes semiconductor products and had sales of $3.5 billion last year, owns 64 percent of Micron Electronics.
"They're really trying to refine their model," Butler said. "The good news is they have a solid balance sheet and several hundred million dollars in reserves. But it's a little too early to declare victory."
Kocher said the company has reduced the amount of time it holds inventory from an anemic 38 days to "within hailing distance of Dell and Gateway," which clear out their inventories every seven days.
"We've been able to re-establish the competitiveness of our price," Kocher said.
Now Kocher is counting on the strength of the direct sales model, a redefined focus and a big advertising campaign to get Micron back on the fast track. The company is focusing on three kinds of customers: corporate, public sector and small businesses/consumers.
Robert Toomey, a research analyst at Piper Jaffray Inc., Minneapolis, said the company is headed in the right direction.
"They have very strong products and their management is improved," Toomey said. "It's a risky play, but we rate it a strong buy."
Despite weak performance in many areas, Micron has had consistent growth in the government sector, Kocher said. Micron is a subcontractor to Raytheon Co. on the Air Force's Desktop V contract. Sales under this contract represented 1.5 percent of the company's total PC sales in the second quarter of 1998 and 5.1 percent of total revenues from PC sales so far this year.
From 1996 to 1997, Micron's PC sales to the government jumped from $59 million to $119 million. Its GSA schedule sales in 1997 for all of its products were $133 million, up from $22 million in 1996, according to Bob Dornan, senior vice president at Federal Sources Inc., McLean, Va.
Only Dell; Gateway, North Sioux City, S.D.; and Government Technology Services Inc. sold more products on the GSA schedule last year, Dornan said.


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by Irene Ho, Head of Diplomatic Council Singapore.
Top global wealth trends and why Singapore is one the best countries to invest.
The global number of high net worth individuals (HNWI) is steadily increasing, but we see a millionaire migration. The wealth exodus from China continues. Australia and the U.S. see big gains, as the HNWI inflow and outflow of top countries shows:
Losses: China - 15000, Russia -7000, India -5000, Turkey -4000, United Kingdom -3000, France -3000, Brazil -2000, Indonesia -1000, Saudi Arabia -1000. Note: Despite high outflows China is still creating more millionaires than it’s loosing.
Gains: Australia +12000, United States of America +10000, Canada +4000, Switzerland +2000, Singapore +1000, Greece +1000, Israel +1000, New Zealand +1000.
The world’s richest people live in (number of people with fortunes of at least $ 30 million) London (4494), Tokyo (3732), Singapore (3598), New York (3378), Beijing (1673), Paris (1667), Seoul (1594), Taipei (1519), Zurich (1507) and Sao Paulo (1352). Source: Knight Franks 2019 Wealth Report.
Best luxury invests are (based on a 10 year value change): rare whisky +582%, cars +258%, coins +193%, stamps +189%, watches +173%, art +158%, wine +147%, jewelry +112%, colored diamonds +102%.
Singapore is a business heaven: stable currency, growing economy, 17% corporate tax, all AAA credit ratings. Singapore is the least risky country in the world for investments. It has no significant restrictions on remittances, foreign exchange transactions and capital movements. Tax on capital gains and dividend income is 0%. All foreign-sourced income is tax exempt as long as the income has been subjected to tax in a country with a headline tax rate of at least 15%.
The professional industry growth rate of 4.6% from 2015 to reach a value-add of S$ 31 billion by 2020 and generate 5,500 new professionals, managers, executive and technical (PMET) jobs every year in the same period of time.


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Unilever Malawi on Tuesday held another draw of the Omo Wash and Fly to Brazil Promotion where 20 customers won various prizes.
During the draw, held at Unilever Malawi head offices in Limbe, assorted prizes ranging from a washing machine, Dstv sets, irons and 15 soccer jerseys and Unilever hampers went to winners drawn from across the country but this time around Zomba produced a winner for the first time since the promotion kicked-off.
The promotion, which started on April 1, is expected to run until May 16 and four lucky Unilever customers will win a four-day all expenses paid for trip to Brazil and a $1 000 (K450 000) shopping money.
Speaking after the draw, Unilever Malawi marketing manager Wongani Vinkhumbo said they are happy with the response of the promotion.
“Let me take this opportunity to encourage our customers to participate more this week because we have been left with the last draw where the winning ticket to Brazil will be won,” she said.
To enter the promotion, customers are supposed to buy two packets of 500g or 1kg Omo washing powder, write their name, address and phone number behind the receipt and drop into Omo boxes at selected peoples Metro, Shoprite and Chipiku shops or the nearest Unilever key distributer points.Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :


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Q&A: Dennis and Michelle Reina
It's Cisco Live this week - in London, at least. As usual, Cisco makes certification announcements around the time of the show, and this time the announcement has to do with Security.
To address a rapidly dwindling number of women in IT, the CompTIA Educational Foundation last week created the Women in Information Technology Council and charged it with convincing those with the right knowledge and skills to make IT their career of...
Around half of information security professionals believe that cloud computing will drive an increase in demand for their skills, according to a new survey.
WASHINGTON -- For tech workers, hiring and wages improved at year end, mirroring last month's overall gain in employment.
Q&A: Al Switzler
Q&A: Todd Thibodeaux
Online labor by independent "cloud" workers probably represents nearly $US1 billion per year in earnings in the U.S., said Elance President and CEO Fabio Rosati, who expects the federal government to consider gathering statistics about the sector beg...
Ask a Premier 100 IT Leader: Jinx Walton
In about 15 years, the Millennial Generation -- the "digital natives" who began entering the workforce in 2000 -- will be, more or less, in charge of their workplaces, with those who have leadership potential having moved up the corporate rungs by th...
A federal jury this month awarded awarded a former Seagate Technology engineer $1.9 million, in a wrongful employment case.
Q&A: Abraham J. Twerski
WiMax service provider Clearwire will lay off 15 per cent of its employees and suspend the opening of retail stores and marketing campaigns in some cities as it tries to conserve cash and raise additional capital.
The Procter & Gamble vice president answers questions about training on the cheap and giving input to a nontechnical boss.
Intel Tuesday announced plans to invest between $6 billion and $8 billion to upgrade multiple computer chip manufacturing plants in the U.S., and to build a new facility in Oregon.
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